Posted on 03/30/2004 4:56:57 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
For a long time, I believed that what hindered reform in the Kingdom was the mindset of the Saudi male. Over and over again, I told myself that the finger should be pointed at Saudi men, rather than women, for dictating social norms and traditions that prevent women from doing many things they do in most other countries. Last year I met one of the Saudi women who drove in Riyadh in 1990 and she personally told me that she had been rebuked by more Saudi women than men.
I still was not quite persuaded. That all changed two weeks ago at a gathering of Saudi journalists discussing social aspects and challenges facing our country.
During our informal discussions, I brought up the injustice and prejudice women have to put up with. I mentioned the example of an independent employed adult Saudi female who cannot obtain a mobile chip (SIM card) from Saudi Telecom Company without bringing a male guardian to testify in writing that she will pay her bills. Even if the woman presents proof that she is employed and submits her ID card, her request will be rejected until her male guardian has verified everything. He must fill in a form, sign and testify that the woman sitting on the opposite side of the partition is a relative; she and her guarantor are of course segregated upon entering the office. Furthermore, the phone chip will be registered in her guardian’s name in the STC computer system and all bills will be sent directly to him rather than to her.
I was talking about how humiliating that is for a 40-year-old woman who is a divorcee for example. In the midst of the discussion, a voice from a female Saudi journalist said, “That is not humiliating at all. In fact, STC does that out of respect for the status of Saudi women. Many Saudi women here do not pay their phone bills and have been imprisoned.”
I really could not make out what she meant. What does respect for the status of Saudi women have to do with STC’s conditions? For some reason though, I decided to keep my mouth shut, not knowing what to say. There I was, trying to defend Saudi women from the injustices they endure and an educated Saudi female thought I was talking nonsense and the STC’s decision was perfectly normal and moreover, made out of “respect”!
Many women writers in the local press write about the status of Saudi women and demand more rights to greater public participation. But not all the feedback from their articles is positive. Much of it is negative, and a great number of those who oppose the calls for women’s rights are conservative Saudi women. They believe the Saudi women writers who are liberal or Westernized and want women in the Kingdom to be as they are in the “corrupt West” where mixing is allowed and where men are sex wolves and women are sex objects.
The fact of the matter is that women’s rights will not arrive in the Kingdom unless women themselves, from all walks of life, speak up in the media and demand them. They alone will have to make that move.
But how can that happen when many Saudi women are content with their status or feel that there is no need to call for more rights?
More like they'd rather be kept barefoot and pregnant.....
Hate to admit it, but they do have a point here.
Just because Saudi attitudes towards women are appalling doesn't mean that we do such a fantastic job of handling things.
Compared to what?
We aren't great in comparison with whom?
Hate to admit it, but they do have a point here.
When your worth and social status is tied to your ability to pump out children, you are a sex object.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.